AIM The purpose of the present study is to determine the relationship between the anticonvulsant drug use during pregnancy and the presence of malformations in the newborns. METHODS The frequency of malformations in the neonates of epileptic mothers under anticonvulsant treatment was analyzed in two periods, one from 1988 to 1992, which included 76 epileptic mothers, and another from 1996 to ...

BACKGROUND To examine the efficacy of valproic acid (VPA) given either with or without levetiracetam (LEV) on seizure control and on survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treated with chemoradiation. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on 291 patients with GBM. The efficacies of VPA and LEV alone and as polytherapy were analyzed in 181 (62%) patients with seizures...

PURPOSE Levetiracetam (LEV) therapeutic range (20-40mg/L) and potential drug interactions were assessed in people with epilepsy (PWE). METHOD Fifty-two PWE had LEV and concomitant medications [carbamazepine (CBZ); valproate (VPA); lamotrigine (LTG)] blood levels measured and compared to seizure activity. Lacosamide (LCM) levels were unavailable. Adopted therapeutic ranges were: 20-40mg/L - LE...

Serum concentrations of total carnitine, free carnitine and acylcarnitine were measured in forty-one epileptic patients treated with valproic acid (VPA). Among them, 14 patients were on VPA monotherapy and 27 were on VPA polytherapy. Forty-one age and sex matched healthy normal controls were also evaluated for carnitine metabolism. The mean total and free carnitine were significantly lower in b...

OBJECTIVE To assess the relative risk of major congenital malformation (MCM) from in utero exposure to antiepileptic drug (AEDs). METHODS Prospective data collected by the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register were analysed. The presence of MCMs recorded within the first three months of life was the main outcome measure. RESULTS Full outcome data were collected on 3607 cases. The overall MCM r...

Some investigators argue that treating epilepsy with several antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) simultaneously (polytherapy) may give rise to more adverse effects than monotherapy, but this argument lacks supporting quantitative data. To reexamine this issue, we recruited a cohort of patients from the outpatients of the Special Centres for Epilepsy in The Netherlands and from the outpatients of the Dep...

To assess the impact of the duration of epilepsy, the clusters of seizures and/or epileptic status, the type of epilepsy and seizures, and the mono-/ polytherapy on the quality of life (QOL) of Bulgarian patients with refractory epilepsy (RE). Seventy patients with RE were studied using a purposeful interview on the patients’ disease course, as well as an exam of the patients’ medical documenta...